The Household Organization Diet {How to Get Organized}

UPDATE:The Household Organization Diet will once again be back in 2015!! You can find all of the details and the free printables HERE. I have also created a Pinterest Board exclusively for all of the Household Organization Diet projects. If you are just getting started, just join in on the current month. You can either go back to do past months if you have extra time or just wait until that month rolls around again!

Today marks the last day of 2012!Although I always enjoy looking back on the year that has passed, the thought of a fresh new year ahead is always so promising! This year my focus is on getting things more organized and streamlined in our household. I want to spend less time cleaning and doing things around the house and have more time to spend with my family enjoying our typical day to day life. So I have come up with an idea on how to get organized…

I have spent a lot of time thinking of how I was going to achieve my more “organized life” and have decided that my home needs to go on a diet. The more I thought about what I needed to do to organize my home, the more I was reminded of the principals that we follow when we go on a typical diet to lose weight.

It takes a long term commitment.

I think that it is safe to say that a disorganized house generally occurs over a longer period of time. We have kids, get pets, and accumulate all of our “stuff” gradually over the years until one day it hits us that we have too much stuff! {My body seemed to follow this same path!} Unless you have the time to make getting organized a full time job, it will take time {for some longer than others!} to go through everything and make your home the way you would like it to be. And that’s okay!!!! When you go on a diet, you do not expect to lose 50 lbs. in a month. You make a long term commitment to gradually losing the weight. Our houses will take time to lose the weight too so let go of the thought that this will happen quickly. It will not happen overnight BUT IT WILL HAPPEN!

We Must Develop New Habits.

Getting Organized is all about changing our habits. Just as we have to develop new eating and exercise habits to lose weight, we need to develop new habits to create a clean and organized home. These will become part of our typical day to day activities and will eventually, become our regular routine. Doing a 14 day or 30 day organization challenge is a great kickstart but if we don’t change our old habits, it will not be long before the chaos returns. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of workandtime to change those habits. In order to stick with it, we need to start small and gradually build on the habits that we are forming. It may take some trial and error and a few tweaks here and there but, with a plan in place, we can change those bad habits and replace them with organized new ones! We must get rid of the excuses.

I have come to the conclusion that I will never have any more time or any more energy than I have now. This is what I’ve got and I need to make the most of it. This plan can easily be tailored to whatever you want it to be – give it 15 minutes a day, a couple of hours per week, or 5 hours per month. Anything that you do will be better than doing nothing! Just get started – NO EXCUSES!

We must think of the rewards

We always need some kind of internal motivation to drive us to do something new and challenging. The benefits always have to outweigh the bad. Like losing weight, I think many of us start out on these re-organization projects with so much gusto that we quickly burn ourselves out and give up. The bad quickly outweighs the good and we shut down. With this project, I am hoping to take things slowly, at a very manageable pace, so that we can always keep the “good” in mind – having more time to relax and spend time with our families, being more patient with our children, creating a calmer life. Think of what your own personal rewards will be and use them to keep you motivated. Focus on what you have done rather than what you still want to do.

So what’s the plan???My project will officially be starting on Monday, January 7 and I would LOVE to have you join me! Whether you are living in disorganized chaos or just need a few little tweaks here and there, this project can work for you. Basically we will be tackling one room or one major project per month. At the beginning of each month there will be a printable To-Do list covering what specific tasks I will be working on for the month. You can take out what you don’t need to do or add in anything extra that you would like to accomplish in that space. Some of you might want to do a little each day and others will do a few things once or twice per week. It is totally up to you! I will also be posting lots of other inspirational organization ideas that I have come across relating to that particular space. As we work our way through the year we will develop a regular deep cleaning and organization plan to continue with in the years to come. There really is no end to this project – it is all about slowly developing new habits and continuously building on those habits to create a more organized and peaceful home.

I will be sharing a few more details about this project throughout the week and there will be a couple of little things that you will need to do to get ready for Monday. I will be trying to post daily organization motivators on Facebook so make sure you are following along there as well. The kitchen is up first!

So who’s in????

UPDATE: The Household Organization Diet will once again be back in 2015!! You can find all of the details and the free printables HERE. I have also created a Pinterest Board exclusively for all of the Household Organization Diet projects. If you are just getting started, just join in on the current month. You can either go back to do past months if you have extra time or just wait until that month rolls around again!

That’s exactly what my house needs – a diet. After living in our first home for 12 years and having 3 kids, we’re starting to bulge a little. Time to slender things down a bit. Our so called starter home is still our home, so we have to make our space work. Looking forward to your posts.

Please solve this problem for me in your project–I am a grandma with plenty of family photos. So many they clutter ever surface and wall in my home and dusting is a a real chore. They all deserve a spot and I can’t leave out one family member. As an empty nester they are my company. How do I find a way to clear surfaces but still have my company. Hint: I am not a fan of scanning in ALL of them. Hiding in a computer is not where I want them.

Boy do I need this diet too:)! I started a bit already because I just couldn’t stand looking at all the STUFF,it was as if you read my mind. Ok, I am in! Looking forward to all of your ideas. Happy New Year Jenn!!! And thank you for all of your support, Jen

I’m in. I’ve been in the process of ‘de-cluttering’. In the past 15 months both of our adult children have gotten married…we downsized and moved into a town home so we’ve been pitching and simplifying.

I LOVE all things organized….and I’m looking forward to following alone!

Hi, Jenn! I just found your post at WOW US Wednesdays and I AM IN! my email is claudine@restory.ca if you are sending reminders.I will follow your blog and your Facebook to keep connected!Happy New Year!

I’m in! We are having a party tomorrow night, so it’s a great excuse for organizing for real, not just shifting clutter around. Right now my husband is in charge of the messy kitchen counter and he is totally freaking out! LOVE to see the shoe on the other foot:)

Hi, I have just found you, but, I wanted to let you know, I AM IN!!! Reading your post is right were I am at. Our youngest has just started Prep, so now is the time to sort out and organise our house. Thanks so much in advance. Your ideas are amazing, and sound acheivable. Okay I am off to printoff what I need to get started. Cheers, Deb

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Hi there! I'm Jenn, mommy to two busy {and very cute!} boys and wife to a very tolerant hubby. I love all things crafty and creative and have created this blog to share my ideas and favorite finds. I hope you enjoy your visit! Read More…